1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever-type connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lever-type connector is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-4672. This lever-type connector, has a female housing configured to be fitted on a male housing. The female housing includes opposite front and rear ends and upper and lower surfaces that extend between the front and rear ends. Upper and lower protection walls extend forward from the rear end of the female housing in spaced relationship from the respective upper and lower surfaces, and a gate-shaped lever is installed on the inner side of each protection wall. Thus the protection walls protect the lever. Shaft holes are formed on the protection walls, and shaft pins extend through the shaft holes to support the lever rotatably. The male housing includes a hood that can penetrate into the space between the outer surface of the female housing and the inner surface of the protection walls.
The housings are mated to each other by first rotating the lever to a state in which a follower pin on the outer surface of the male housing has penetrated into a circular arc-shaped cam groove formed on the lever. The lever then is rotated, and the housings approach each other due to the cam action between the follower pin and the cam groove.
The front portion of the lever, in this construction, may have an inward warp that may interfere with the male housing. A correction wall formed on the inner side of the lever could solve this problem. However, it would be difficult to install such a lever on the female housing. To overcome these problems, the present applicant proposed a construction disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 142966. In this construction, the lever is installed on an installation member and then the installation member then is installed on the female housing.
In this construction, the protection wall on the outer side of the lever should prevent deformation of the lever in response to a force on the lever in a direction in which the lever is opened outward while the operation of rotating the lever is being performed. However, the protection wall may not have a sufficient thickness due to a demand for miniaturization of the connector. Thus, the lever may deform outward, and may cause a deformation of the protection wall during the operation.
To prevent the lever from being opened, it is conceivable to increase the strength of the protection wall by providing a reinforcing wall between the front end of the protection wall and the front end of the correction wall. In this case, an open portion is formed by partly cutting out the reinforcing wall so that the follower pin of the male housing can pass therethrough. To protect the lever, the open portion has a minimum size necessary for the follower pin.
However, there is a problem in separating both housings from each other. More particularly, the housings are separated from each other after rotating the lever to the initial position in which the cam groove and the open portion match each other. At this time, if the cam groove has a large degree of play relative to the follower pin because of a variation in size tolerance generated in a molding operation, both housings are liable to be loose in separating them from each other. As a result, when the follower pin moves from the cam groove to the open portion, there is a possibility that the follower pin is caught by an edge at the rear side of the open portion. Thus, the operation of separating both housings from each other cannot be performed smoothly.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to easily perform an operation of removing both housings from each other.
The subject invention is directed to a lever-type connector having a first connector housing and a second connector housing capable of fitting on the first connector housing. The first connector housing includes a lever having a cam groove that engages a follower pin formed on the second connector housing. The lever is rotated to an initial position in which the entrance to the cam groove is at the front of the first connector housing. The first and second connector housings then are moved toward one another sufficiently for the follower pin and the cam groove to have engaged each other. The lever then can be rotated to fit the first connector housing and the second connector housing on each other. The lever subsequently can be rotated in the opposite direction to separate the first connector housing and the second connector housing from each other.
A protection wall is formed on an outer side of the lever and is connected, through a connection wall, with a front end of an outer surface of the first connector housing in a direction in which the first connector housing and the second connector housing are fitted on each other. An opening is formed on the connection wall and aligns with the entrance of the cam groove when the lever is placed at an initial position. Thus the opening in the connection wall permits the insertion and removal of the follower pin into the cam groove. A guide is formed on a rear edge of the opening such that when the follower pin moves from the cam groove to the opening, the follower pin is capable of sliding on a sliding surface of the guide inclining toward a peripheral surface of the opening.
According to the invention, both connector housings are fitted on each other by first the rotating the lever to the initial position, such that the entrance to the cam groove aligns with the opening in the connection wall. The first and second connector housings then are moved toward one another, such that the follower pin passes through the opening in the connection wall and engages the entrance to the cam groove. The lever then is rotated from the initial position, and the follower pin moves along the cam groove to bring both connector housings toward each other.
To move the connector housings away from each other, the lever is rotated in an opposite direction. When the follower pin reaches the entrance of the cam groove, and when the lever reaches the initial position at which the entrance of the cam groove matches the opening, both connector housings are separated from each other. If the cam groove has a play relative to the follower pin because of a variation in size tolerance generated in a molding operation, there is a possibility that both connector housings are loose in the separation operation. In this case, when the follower pin moves from the cam groove of the lever to the opening, the follower pin slides on the guide formed at the rear edge of the opening. Thus, the follower pin can be guided smoothly to the peripheral surface of the opening. Accordingly, the operation of removing both connectors from each other can be accomplished smoothly.